


Here There Be Monsters

by averita



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-26
Updated: 2012-10-26
Packaged: 2017-11-17 01:38:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/546208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/averita/pseuds/averita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been 113 years for her since they had celebrated her 160th birthday, right here in the Sanctuary.  (Five birthdays Helen shared with Will.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here There Be Monsters

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday to the lovely Sam! <3 I've never written Sanctuary fic before, but I hope you enjoy it. (Also hope you enjoy the SG-1 references!)

The first time, Ashley tried to talk him out of it.

"She doesn't do birthdays," she informed him. "She says that after getting the letter from the Queen, she didn't see much point, and they just make her feel old."

_Well, she_ is _old_ , Will didn't say. "I just think it would be nice," he pressed. "I kind of owe her, after everything these past few months. But, you know, shopping for someone well into their second century is a new one for me." 

Ashley's lip twitched, but she conceded. "Henry and I used to make her things. You know, paintings, cupcakes, whatever - we tried to make macaroons one year but the Big Guy wasn't around to help, so we destroyed the kitchen instead. She always liked them, though." 

This didn't help Will as much as he had hoped. Stick figure drawings might be treasured coming from a young daughter and surrogate son, but he had a feeling that the reaction might not be quite so enthusiastic should he attempt it. As for cupcakes - well, he'd never baked before, and with the Big Guy away on a mission it didn't feel like the time to learn. 

In the end, he did go with a painting, a small piece done by a local street artist. It was simple, a black and white sketch of the city in shadow, but he liked the empty spaces and the way the water seemed to bleed off the page. He wrapped it with a simple card - "To Magnus, From Will" - and left it on her desk.

She never said anything, but the next morning her eyes were warm and her smile soft, and that was a better gift than any he could have given her.

***

It wasn't until Ashley was gone that Will realized how much space she took up.

The entire house was quieter, that was a given, but it was the little things - the boots kicked off in odd corners, the way she would poke him hard enough to bruise just to bug him, the occasional explosion from Henry's lab as they worked on some experiment that Will would inevitably get sucked in to - it was the little things, really, that he found himself noticing. 

Magnus was quieter, too. She worked and ate and laughed, but it was like a reflex, something she did because it was what she had done her whole life. (She'd stopped snapping at him, at least. She'd disappeared as soon as they'd returned from New Orleans, and he'd let her go, but a few hours later he'd joined her on the roof with a thermos and a blanket to wrap around her shoulders. Even with that, it had taken her awhile to stop shaking.) 

She was on the sofa with a book when he entered her office, but her eyes were glazed when she looked up, and Will was pretty sure that she hadn't taken in a single word. "Hey," he greeted, holding up a small container. "You have a sec?"

"Of course," she agreed, straightening herself out and setting the book on the table beside her. "Kate was asking about you earlier, she said she hadn't seen you all day."

Will nodded, nervousness blooming in his stomach. "Ah, yeah," he said. "I was in the kitchen, actually." Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I know. I just - I was making these." He handed her the tupperware container he'd brought in. "I've never really baked before, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Your house is still in one piece, don't worry," he added with a weak smile as she took in the contents and sucked in a breath.

"Will..." she murmured, and fell silent. 

He shifted awkwardly, making to stand up. "She told me that she and Henry tried to make them one year. I thought I'd give it another go." He smiled weakly. "Happy birthday, Magnus."

He was almost to the door when she spoke, voice slightly unsteady. "Do you know, I really hate macaroons." 

Huffing out a startled laugh, he turned back. "As a matter of fact, I _didn't_ know that." 

Magnus met his eyes; her own were glittering. "Well, we shouldn't let them go to waste," she said quietly, gesturing towards the seat he had just vacated, silently waiting for him to return to her side.

***

"Before you blame me," Will warned her, stopping just outside the main lab, "this was _not_ my idea."

"I'll keep that in mind," Magnus said teasingly, "though be warned, I'll probably blame you anyway."

"Not me!" he protested. "Tesla! It's always Tesla," he grumbled. "And Kate, a little bit, once she figured out what was going on. But not me!" 

"Well, we'll see about that, won't we?" she grinned, and pushed open the door.

The entire room was decked out in streamers, balloons, and all manner of party paraphenalia. A giant cake - "160 Years Young!" - held a place of honor on one of the tables that had been cleared for the occasion, and several bottles of wine occupied another. As the two stepped inside, the crowd gathered shouted "SURPRISE!", and Magnus actually jumped. She was a hell of an actress, Will mused. 

"Oh, bloody hell," she laughed, smiling at the group assembled. Tesla was at the front, arms spread wide, with Henry and Kate on either side of him. The Big Guy, Declan, and several of the free-roaming Abnormals flanked them, and many of those still in their habitats waved merrily from where they watched. "This was completely unnecessary!" 

"Ah, but when have you known me to turn down an opportunity to raid your wine cellar?" Tesla asked, moving forward to kiss her cheek. She rolled her eyes, still laughing, and swatted at his hand before it moved into inappropriate territory. 

Will had to admit that it was a fun evening, despite his initial misgivings. Magnus - for all of her protests - was clearly touched, and as he started on his second slice of cake, he gave Biggie a thumbs up. After weeks of digging for clues to Hollow Earth's location, he figured they all deserved the break.

"I didn't think this was your kind of thing," he told Magnus later, when most of the Abnormals had left and Henry and Tesla had begun designing some sort of energy weapon out of cheese puffs. 

She shrugged. "It isn't, really," she confessed, "but it's a very sweet thought. Just so long as I'm not in charge of the clean up." She took a small sip of wine and eyed him knowingly. "The gift was especially touching."

Will looked towards the table, where the faded map lay in its delicate gold frame. Despite its age, the lines remained sharp, and the colors carefully preserved. "'Here there be monsters,'" he quoted, remembering the words written along the side of the landscape - the words that had first drawn him to the map. "Very appropriate."

Magnus smiled then, her eyes crinkling, and she suddenly leaned in to kiss his cheek. His skin burned when she pulled away, and he smiled back as she used her thumb to wipe her lipstick away. 

"Indeed," she murmured. "Now we just need to find them."

***

For all the time he spent obsessing over it, it was easy to forget that Magnus was 113 years older than she had been last year.

It had been 113 years for her since they had celebrated her 160th birthday, right here in the Sanctuary. The map he - _they_ , he corrected himself - had given her still hung in her study. He looked at the photo hanging in his own, one Declan had taken of them that night as Henry had cut the cake. 

It had been a good night.

He wondered how distant the memory was for her, now, and thought again of the faded map. 

Since she'd gotten back, he'd worked hard to erase that distance, to pretend that nothing had changed; at first, she'd seemed fine to let him. It was only now that he was starting to realize what he hadn't wanted to admit.

It had been 113 years for her, and suddenly, he was very glad for that distance; the distance that allowed him to pretend that the woman he had come to care so much about was in fact a different one than the woman who had risked Abby's life the way she had. 

He looked at the photo a moment longer. They both looked younger; his arm was slung around her shoulders with an ease that he could barely remember, and she was smiling broadly, unaware of Henry standing behind her and making bunny ears with his fingers. 

It had been a good night, but it had been a long time ago, for both of them. 

He passed her in the hall as he made his way to his room. She smiled, that strained smile that he had gotten too used to. "Haven't seen you around today," she said quietly.

"Just been catching up on some paperwork," he replied stiffly, and tried to ignore the confusing feelings of triumph and self-loathing as her smile dropped. "I'm having an early night."

She nodded, briefly, and the smile returned brighter and more false than before. "Of course," she replied. "Sleep well, Will."

He figured neither of them would.

***

Helen loved the new Sanctuary. She had built it the same way she had built the first one - over many years with quiet determination, with help from friends and over the objections of enemies. The final result was a new world custom made for those she sought to protect and grant freedom, and she couldn't have been prouder.

She just wished that it hadn't taken so many sacrifices.

She missed the Big Guy, his steadfast loyalty and quiet companionship. She missed James, whose friendship had kept her sane those first years in isolation and who had stayed in close contact until that last visit, when she hadn't been able to keep herself from weeping. She missed the Old City, her old home, the pieces of her life she had surrounded herself with in her old office. 

She missed Will. Somehow, having him right down the hall made it even worse. 

He'd forgiven her, she knew. She also knew that it would be a long time before he trusted her again.

"I know that look."

She jumped, slightly, and turned from her window seat. "I was just thinking about you," she said, gesturing for him to sit beside her on the sill. 

"Oh yeah?" Will asked. "I hope it was about that raise. I wasn't kidding about that, you know." 

Helen laughed. "Neither was I." 

Their silences were less awkward now, and she was glad for it. He seemed fine to sit in silence, looking out at the water falling into the river. 

"You didn't get me anything last year," she finally said, nodding towards the small package he held. He shook his head, not shifting his gaze.

"I was angry. Still am, a little," he added, almost as an afterthought. He really was taking this "no secrets" pact very seriously, she mused, but perhaps that was a good thing; she was still learning. "But I felt bad, afterwards."

Helen glanced at him. "There was a lot of that going around," she admitted. 

Will looked out at the waterfall a moment longer before meeting her eyes. "You know, I still have one question about all this," he said, and Helen felt herself tensing. 

"Yes?"

Will let out a long breath, and turned back to the window. "Why on _Earth_ ," he demanded, "would you build this place surrounded by water? I mean, when have we _ever_ had a good experience with water? I keep waiting for some giant scorpion to attack, or to wake up in a lab, or something." 

Helen let out a startled laugh. "Oh, come on, Will," she chided him. "We've managed all right so far, haven't we?"

"Yeah, but why test our luck?" Will pressed, gesturing at the waterfall indignantly though failing to hold back a grin. "It feels like we're just asking for trouble!"

Helen chuckled again, but after a moment turned serious. "We've always faced it together, haven't we?" she said. "And we've always come back all right. Even - even last time, in the caves. We got through that, didn't we?" 

Will let out a slow breath, apparently surprised by the turn in conversation. "Yeah," he said eventually. "I guess we did." He looked at her intently, and it took her a moment to realize that she had tensed up again. She took his hand.

"So maybe it's not always bad luck," she said. "Maybe it's just - water. Something to make a clean start with." 

Will didn't say anything, but he didn't move, either. Eventually he set the package down and settled back against the sill. 

"Happy birthday, Magnus," he said quietly, and didn't let go of her hand.

She'd open the package later, she thought. Right now, she intended to enjoy the gift she was being given.


End file.
